GROT Rotation file format: Proposal for version 2

Wrapping an attribute value in double quotes is awkward in a file syntax which doesn't otherwise require this.

Old style @ATTRIBUTE“value”

Example: @AU“Foo Bar” @AU“Baz” @REF“Foo.EPSL.2020” @REF“Bar.JGR.2020” @C“Some foo bar comment”

Proposed new style: @ATTRIBUTE value

Example: @AU Foo Bar,Baz @REF Foo.EPSL.2020, Bar.JGR.2020 @C Some foo bar comment

This means that an attribute is either delimited by a following attribute, prefixed by an @ sign or a newline character. Attribute value lists (e.g. @AU FOO, BAR, BAZ) are allowed but individual values are required to be separated by commas.

In some cases, workers want to use compound attributes such as:

@C rotation params changed by @AU BAZ,FOOB based on @REF Bar.2019,Baz.2020 for @CHRONID M1r

• Plate pairs in full names should always be separated by a hyphen - e.g. My big plate-your big plate
• Metadata attribution needs to be consistent in style. Only use one way of writing metadata - such as @AU“FooBar” @REF“FooBar.EPSL.2020” @C“most important rotation of the world” OR @AU FooBar @REF FooBar.EPSL.2020 @C most important rotation of the world but do not mix those styles.
• Does each line need to be attributed in full?
• Try to avoid doubling up information: there is no need to write something like @REF FooBar.EPSL.2020 @DOI 10.21304/kasdj.offf.kasdj2032 when both point to the same source. This has become redundant as we have now a reference section whcih maps @REF and @DOI tags.